At the Corner Deli I'll spread knowledge, comment and the exchange of ideas through discussion of topics of the day, history or whatever moves me to write. The views, fantasies and delusions I write about are tinged with the Jewish spark of my memories of places like the Ashkenaz Deli on Morse Avenue in Rogers Park, Chicago -- a place where you could come and discuss anything. So please, kvell and kvetch a little.

Randy's Corner Deli Library

11 September 2008

Well, let us no longer delude ourselves that the Bushes or the McCains are the best thing for Israel's security. Israel is better off without ideologic morons like Mr. McCain who thinks the whole world should be in the image of America, (exceptional as it is) as he said tonight at Columbia University, with all due respect to the rest of the world, including Israel. This has resulted in the elevation of Hamas and Hezbollah to the level of negotiating partners. Obama, a citizen of a more cosmopolitan outlook,would reject a timeline for people to come to agreement as much as Bush rejected a timeline for America to leave Iraq, a venture which has caused the destabilization of the region and the ascent of Iran. Thank you so much, Mr. Bush. If anybody is deluded that Israel will be better off with more Republican "change" as represented by Mr. McCain, you need only read this article.

Anyone who wants to see an unambiguous demonstration of the State Department's bias toward Israel need look no further than the US Consulate General in Jerusalem's activities, as laid out on their website.

Despite being located in Israel's capital, anyone visiting the website would remain all but ignorant that Israel even exists, because the US General Consulate's activities are wholly directed toward Palestinian Arabs. The US Consulate General funds camps, conducts cultural arts programs and other activities all of which are directed at Palestinian Arabs and take place in Palestinian Arab areas.

To quote the Consulate website, "Since 1993, the American people have spent more than $1.7 billion in the West Bank and Gaza to combat poverty, create jobs, improve education, build roads and water systems, construct and equip medical clinics, and promote good governance."

Long before any negotiations have occurred, the US Consulate General has already declared itself as Palestinian territory. In piece after piece Israel isn't even mentioned, as if it had been wiped off the planet as thoroughly as Saudi Arabia and the US State Department wished it had been.

The US Consul General Jacob Walles is listed as sending Eid al-adha greetings to the Palestinians and Bush's Eid al-Fitr greetings are listed. no similar greetings are listed for any Jewish holidays. The website has an Arabic language section. It does not have a Hebrew section, despite being in a Hebrew speaking country.

Walles commemorated Independence Day by inviting Salam Fayyad, so-called Prime Minister of PLO's PA. No mention is made of any Israeli officials.

There is a word for the US Consulate General in Jerusalem. A German word that the Arabs and now the US State Department have enthusiastically embraced, Judenrein. Judenrein though isn't just a state of being, it's a practice. The elimination of any Jewish presence.

To that end Jacob Walles, under Condoleeza Rice, have broken new ground in promoting the Arab presence in Jerusalem and subverting and browbeating Israel into going along with their plan for an Arab Jerusalem.

When an Israeli court issued an eviction notice for Arabs in Jerusalem who had refused to pay rent, the US State Department via the Consulate intervened and demanded that the eviction be recinded.

When the daughter of Hannan Ashrawi, a leading PLO figure, and friend of Condoleeza Rice, returned to Israel after years of being away, having lost residency under Israeli law, she promptly contacted Rice and minutes later Israel received a call from the Deputy Secretary of State commanding that Israel override the law on her behalf. Similar intervention occured for the "Fullbright students" when the Consulate itself passed on the story to the New York Times. By contrast Jewish Americans in Israel who appeal to the US Consulate for help find it less than useless.

Many such incidents occur regularly occur involving the US Consulate in Jerusalem, which seems to exist purely to undermine Israel and promote the division of Jerusalem. When people talk about the people of the Israel Lobby, they forget that the most powerful Arab lobby in the United States is the State Department.

The US Consulate's own website has purged Jewish and Israeli references as thoroughly as any Saudi website has. Meanwhile it spends billions on promoting and aiding Arabs and working against Israel to dismember the country. It's hard to miss the reality that in the great tradition of WW2 era US diplomats who worked to prevent Jewish refugees from even reaching the Western Hemisphere, Consul General Jacob Walles like much of the State Department is conducting a war against Israel.